Construction materials giant
Operating EBITDA increased by 6% during the quarter to US$569 million versus the same period in 2014. On a like-for-like basis, operating EBITDA increased by 14% in the same period.
The Q1 2015 consolidated net sales increase was said by the Mexican headquartered company to be due to the higher prices of its products, in local currency terms, in most of its operations, as well as due to higher sales volumes in Mexico, the US and Asia.
Also on a like-for-like basis, operating earnings before other expenses in Q1 2015 increased by 33%, to US$335 million. Operating EBITDA increased during the quarter by 6% and, on a like-for-like basis, by 14% to US$569 million.
Fernando A. Gonzalez, Cemex’s chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased with our first-quarter results. Our net sales increased by 7% while operating EBITDA improved by 14%, on a like-for-like basis. EBITDA generation was the highest since 2008, despite adverse currency fluctuations.
“We are encouraged by the performance of our operations in Mexico, where first-quarter cement volumes grew by 13%, reaching the highest level in six years. This quarter, on top of the sustained increase in our volumes to the industrial-and-commercial and formal residential sectors, we also saw growth in the infrastructure and informal residential sectors.”
Gonzalez said that Cemex’s Q1 2015 6% increase in cement demand from Mexico’s infrastructure sector was driven by increased public-works spending, while demand from the informal residential sector grew by 11% as a result of “higher consumer confidence due to improvements in employment, disposable income and remittances.”
